Museums Display Technologies Used in “Game of Thrones”: The Secret of Dragonglass

With the upcoming premiere for the 8th and final season of the one of the most, if not the most epic and breathtaking TV shows, “Game of Thrones”, we noticed that even the scientific institutions all over the world caught the necessary vibe.Being very diverse, the main focus of the show is actually the ongoing war between different kings, queens and kingdoms. And where there’s war, there are weapons. “Game of Thrones” can boast of a rich and manifold choice of weaponry. Swords and daggers made of Valyrian steel, different enchantments, the fire of dragons are all very interesting and very deadly, but today we want to focus on something more mysterious, and this is Dragonglass.

What is Dragonglass?

Dragonglass is a legendary substance, created from the burning temperatures of the dragon “breath”. The swords made out of this material are one of the only methods to kill the White Walkers, the deadly non-human creatures from the deep North that aim to destroy every single person in the universe.
[caption id="attachment_36328" align="alignnone" width="504"]Source: Game of Thrones Wiki[/caption]
In the third book of the series “A Storm of Swords”, one of the characters, Samwell Tarly, describes it in the following way:

“The maesters say it comes from the fires of the earth. They call it obsidian.”

What can museums teach us about Dragonglass?

Natural History Museum in London published a tweet with a quote from “Game of Thrones” and their own exhibits of obsidian.
https://twitter.com/NHM_London/status/1117464684146384896
While the TV shows explains the emergence of this material due to the fire produced by dragons, the scientists have a more logical explanation, which is lava. Real obsidian is formed in the nature after volcanic eruptions. Moreover, ancient tribes really created weapons, using obsidians, thousands of years ago. For instance, axes and arrowheads made of “dragonglass” were very popular among the people of the past.
https://twitter.com/NHM_London/status/1117464917035180034
The challenge was also accepted by the Corning Museum of Glass, located in New York. They decided to acknowledge the premiere of the 8th season of “Game of Thrones” by showing their own exhibits of obsidian and tools made of this material.
https://twitter.com/corningmuseum/status/1117442697025990656
It doesn’t matter whether it was created by dragons or volcanic lava, obsidian is a truly magical and extremely interesting substance both in the Game of Thrones universe and in the real life. Subscribe to The Coin Shark news in Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coinshark/